Introduction

The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA is a moderate wide-angle prime lens for the new Sony A7/A7 full-frame E-mount compact system cameras. It offers a fixed 35mm focal length and bright F2.8 aperture, features seven elements in five groups including three double-sided aspherical elements to minimize aberration, and is dust- and moisture-resistant. The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA has a minimum focusing distance of 35cm and a maximum magnification of 0.12x. It has a 7 blade diaphragm which creates an attractive blur to the out of focus areas of the image. A special Carl Zeiss T* coating is applied to the lens elements to help reduce lens flare and surface reflections. The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens will be available for £699 / $799 in the UK and the US, respectively.

Ease of Use

The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens mounted on a Sony A7

Weighing in at a mere 120grams, the alloy-bodied Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA is a light yet very well built FE E-Mount lens. Measuring just over 3.5cms in length, it forms a small and discrete package with a full-frame body like the Sony A7 body that we tested it with, as shown in the photos below.

The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens mounted on a Sony A7

The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens mounted on a Sony A7

Top of the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens

Bottom of the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens

Build quality is excellent, but you'd expect that given the high price of the lens. The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA has a sealed dust and moisture resistant design and is a natural partner for the A7 and A7R cameras.

Side of the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens

Side of the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens

The wide and ridged manual focus ring is the only external control of note. Manual focusing is possible via the generously sized, textured focus ring when set on the specific camera body. The lens utilizes a linear motor to produce quiet and smooth focusing, making it well-suited to shooting video.

The lens doesn't ship with a case, but a lens hood is supplied. The ALC-SH129 cap-type lens hood works with 40.5mm filters.

Focal Range

At the 55mm focal length the angle of view is 52.5 degrees.

Field of view at 35mm

Focusing

Given its small size, the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens has quite a wide focus ring. There are no hard stops at either end of the range, making it a little more difficult to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 49mm filter thread doesn't rotate on focus.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA zoom is a quiet and fairly quick performer on the Sony A7 that we tested it with, taking about 0.15 seconds to lock onto the subject.

We didn't experience much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time, and it's also a quiet performer thanks to the linear motor driven internal focusing, making it ideal for movie shooting.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are only notable by their complete absence from our test shots.

Light Fall-off

With the lens set to its maximum aperture, there is some light fall-off in the extreme corners, but it won't affect your real-world shots.

Light fall-off

Macro

The Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA isn't claimed to be a macro lens, offering a minimum focusing distance of 35cm and a maximum magnification of 0.12x. The following example demonstrates how close you can get to your subject, in this case a Compact Flash memory card.

Close-up performance

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA lens, Sony employed an iris diaphragm with seven rounded blades, which has resulted in very appealing bokeh in our view. We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we've included several 100% crops for your perusal.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following page.